aspire_helen

Note There are 2 types of substrate (the filter material) inside DPFs - Silicone Carbide (SiC) and Cordierite. SiC is more expensive (£400ish), Cordierite (£130) is cheaper. Citroen OE fit are SiC. Cordierite is marginally less porous. However, Cordierite will do the job if your car is more than a few years old and not a sports car.

Headlamp washers are an MOT fail for headlamps fitted with High Discharge bulbs. The rams (the bit that extends) is designed with a slot so that it can be held out in the extended period. So, operate the washers and have someone "catch" the ram before it retracts. Then using a suitable fork-like tool slide it into the slot in the ram to "jam" the ram in the out position. There is no need to every prise open the ram by the painted covers! If you ever do, best bet is to pass 2 loops of dental floss under the cover from each side and pull evenly. Once secure, the jet nozzle assembly (complete with covers) can be removed by releasing the two plastic tangs. The ram and jet nozzle assembly are available on Ebay either together or separate. The nozzle comes with the plastic fork-like tool to hold open the ram. Regarding failures. My washers failed last year. The rams extended but did not spray water. There were 2 faults probably caused by freezing water damage. One of the rams had split but this was not the cause as fixing it did not solve the problem. The prime problem was that the pump had lost power. It sounded OK and had enough pressure to extend the rams, but not enough to open the valves and spray water. A second-hand pump solved the problem. Moral = make sure you put sufficient antifreeze(no, not the radiator stuff) in the washer bottle.

You may find the suspension will settle lower, too low to get a jack under. So, I suggest you suspend the car off its wheels (helps prevent tyre flat spots), or at least place a pair of axle stands under the front or rear. If you are confident the engine will restart after a long spell then the suspension will rise OK. However, if the engine wont restart you will need to get under the vehicle and if its settled too low for jacking you are stuck.

Hi C5 2.2HDi Exc SE 2001 - A Successful Update - Multi Function Screen (MFD) Colour Screen Satnav FIXED by replacing MFD ECU After the MFD finally went blank and lost functionality of satnav/single CD/CD changer/stalk switches/ trip computer/text warnings/clock/temp gauge etc, I obtained a second hand MFD ECU - 6563AK/J "Elect Ctrl Unit" from Ebay and fitted it today. Everything now Ok, indeed colour screen is more vibrant - I guess I had got used to a slowly deteriorating image. Cost from Citroen £1500+. Double checked unit was from same spec car as this item may need configuring with Lexia etc if the spec is different. The ECU is buried inside the fascia to the right of the instrument cluster. Access requires removal of instrument cluster (easy - see Haynes). Access is improve by removing steering wheel and switch stalk assembly (also in Haynes). The ECU is large (0.8kg) with 4 multi-connectors plus one fibreoptic. It is secured by one easily-accessed T20 screw. I had thought I could access from underneath by removing the satnav box (to the right of steering column) but the box will not come out....indeed, the ECU retaining screw is actually screwed into the top side of the box. So, persevere through the instrument cluster aperture. The ECU is buried under numerous wiring looms and its connectors are very fiddly. I released many of the loom clips to provide some space and removed each connector in turn - access gets easier as the connectors are removed. Tip- tie some chord to each connector as you release it to ensure it wont get lost amongst the spider web of looms. Regarding the removed ECU. It is easily dismantled. There is suggestion on line that ECU failure could result from failure of the cooling fan located centrally over the main microprocessor chip. The circuit board showed no visible signs of failure or over-heating. The 4cm 12v cooling fan was working, but is easily replaced - a direct replacement AFB0412MA only £4 from China. For those owners with a colour screen satnav, and minded to check that the cooling fan is working, it is easy to do - requiring only the removal of the instrument cluster. The fan vents out/upwards from the top of the ECU through a circle of vent holes, so a strip of paper (feather?) should be blown away from the vent holes (not sucked into them). Hope that helps - I am one happy bunny! helen

Eolys additive is available on ebay as DPX42 in either 1 ltr or 4.5ltr. Eolys is added when you top up diesel at a dosage of 37.5ml per 60litres. Removing the filler cap alerts computer to measure the amount of diesel added and run the additive pump for the number of seconds necessary to add the appropriate dose. If the diesel gauge does not detect any fuel added, it wont add additive. Hence, the additive is in every bit of fuel injected into the engine but is only utilised during DPF regeneration. There is no gauge level in the additive tank. The car computes when the tank needs topping up solely by approximating the amount of diesel has been consumed. When additive is topped up the car ECU needs to be updated with how much via a diagnostics unit. The DPF filter is not "cleaned" but exchanged for a re-conditioned one. Or buy a new one. There are two types available of differing quality. The more expensive (£400?) has a ceramic core which is a more effective filter. The cheaper (£150?) has a cheaper material as its core. The Citroen OEM is the expensive one. It permits greater airflow and is hence better for new and performance cars. For the average older engine, the cheaper one is recommended. Alternatively, supposing you can remove it yourself, just jet wash the filter in the opposite direction to the exhaust, until the water runs clear, and fully dry before refit. On another of my post you will find that my additive ECU failed and does not appear to have added any additive for 1000s miles. I got no warnings. My car has driven 166,000miles in 16years. I have replaced the DPF only once at 75,000miles and did not have the ECU updated. I know add the Eolys directly to the tank when I fill up the diesel (no more difficult than adding Redex etc). Only have I had a DPF filter warning, a few years ago, but I successfully cleared that at the second attempt by the usual 50mph down a motorway. These additive systems appear unnecessarily complex!! Helen

2001 C5 2.2HDi Exc SE. I have posted elsewhere that my colour screen has had intermittent problems for some time - dimming, yellowing, horizontal blue lines, but always readable. . I fitted a cheap 2nd hand screen off ebay resulting in no change, suggesting that the screen unit itself was not the problem but its control ECU. Yesterday, my problem worsened with new symptoms as follows: 1. Screen appeared unlit. Sound system controls on radio/Cd unit non-effective.Could not change from CD to radio or vice versa. Trafficmaster green light came on for the first time ever!! (I never renewed the licence). 2. Screen came on whilst driving, but no satnav maps. Sound system controls OK. 3. Screen went half dim. Remarkably, the background screen was displayed but NO digits eg the spaces where the time and temperature digits should be were blank.. 4. Screen went black again, but on closer examination was in fact very, very dim. I will investigate the LCD illumination lamp for the screen as per Old Moshers' post, but I suspect yet again that the control unit is the problem. Can anyone tell me which component controls the screen and associated functions eg radio/CD, trip computer etc? Helen

Just to be clear, before I submitted my car for MOT I removed all signs of a leak. A volatile solvent (eg carb cleaner) removes all traces of oil stains very nicely. I would also add there was no drips, just staining.

Fitted a Bosch branded fuel filter today - no problems. Ordered it on line sunday from Eurocarparts and collected it on monday from their local store which just happens to be closer than Halfords for approx £9 (inc 30% online discount) - same online price as their Crosland fuel filter. I also fitted a Crosland cabin filter I purchased earlier. It fitted OK but the sponge foam seal was made up of 4 individual self-adhesive strips which had inadequate adhesive and 2 fell off during fitting. All my previous cabin filters had a one-piece foam ring seal. These are the only problems i have had with after-market filters (oil, fuel, cabin,air) and both with Crosland.

Thanks Paul. Yes, as Ive posted before, Ive found the swirl connector detached twice with no noticeable effect on performance - it is now wired on. Regarding EGR valve. It was clean and working when I rebuilt the cylinder head. I was tempted to blank off the EGR return feed to the air inlet and would have done so if I had found oily soot deposits again, but as I have not I will leave well alone, even if the EGR valve is coked shut (ie the same effect as blanking its output)

Heads up. Just tried to replace the fuel filter on my 2.2Hdi, with the Siemens-type fuel system (as opposed to the Bosch-type). Ive done this many times with various after-market filters, but the Crosland filter I bought this time from Eurocar Parts DOES NOT FIT. It is the correct part (F30355 - eurocarparts no 503735128), but the centre bore of the Crosland filter is too narrow so that the filter housing will not fit into it, even with force. All previous filters have been a nice snug, but not tight, fit. See photos. I understand Crosland is specific to Eurocarparts. So, being a sunday, did Halfords come to the rescue? No, and there lies another problem. If you search on the Halfords website for cars with the 2.2Hdi engine (C5, Peugeot 204 etc) it come up with only one part HFF264 and shows a generic picture which is of no help. Also, there is no mention of Siemens vs Bosch type. My local Halfords confirmed my findings over the phone and had an HFF264 in stock. However, my 3mile round-trip walk proved pointless. The HFF264 proved to be the Bosch-type filter. Doh! Remarkably, the look-up sheets on the shelf correctly distinguished between Bosch-type (HFF264) and identified the Siemens-type as HFF276! Needles to say, they did not have a HFF276! Summary - Halfords website identifies only one filter HFF264 - it is the BOSCH type. The Halfords SIEMENS-type filter is HFF276, but is not on their website. So, what was a 30minute job turns into a 2-day job as I cannot use the car until I get a new filter - I cannot refit the old (Guttman) filter as I threw it aside and has been contaminated. Lesson - check the new filter fits before throwing the old one in the bin!! FYI - when refitting the filter I recommend you carefully grease the plastic threads of the filter housing top (eg with vaseline, lithium grease). Without it, the high friction on the thread as you tighten it may fool you into thinking it is sealed, whereas it may not be. This happened to mine after a dealer service some years ago. The housing top was tight but not sealed properly and many months later I discovered the engine covered in leaked diesel and associated grime. It will also help when it comes to unscrewing the housing top.

Hi Has anyone bought one of the various Citroen workshop&repair manuals on sale at www.esymanuals.co.uk? One for the C5 linked here is £7.99 for circa 13Gb download or DVD at https://www.easymanuals.co.uk/product/citroen-c5-workshop-service-repair-manual/. The website claims: "Get the same level of information about your vehicle that your official dealer has. Every single element of service, repair and maintenance is included in this fully updated workshop manual. From changing a wiper blade to a full engine rebuild, every procedure is covered with simple step by step illustrated instructions." If so, how good is it? Does anyone recommend any other alternative to Haynes?

Hi folks I thought I would mention, again, that when I dismantled the cylinder head of my 2.2HDi, following a failed cambelt at circa 70K miles, the inlet ducting/swirl chambers/valve stems etc were absolutely caked in thick, oily, sooty "sludge" 2-3mm thick. The internals (eg rockers, camshafts, oilways) were all perfectly clean. In addition, there was a thick black syrup at the lowest part of the broad plastic air duct (under the engine) from the turbo air pressure outlet. I concluded that this "syrup" was thickened or dried engine oil. The "sludge" appeared to have resulted from this oily air mixing with the recirculated exhaust gasses. Since rebuilding the head, now 90K miles ago, i periodically inspect the air inlet ducting with an endoscope. Although on occasion there is some engine oil film, there has been no more "sludge" or "syrup". I concluded that, at some point, for some reason, significant engine oil had got into the inlet ducting downstream from the turbo (or the turbo itself), but had then stopped. I wondered whether overfilling the engine oil could have caused this - one dealer did significantly overfill it on a service, but I did nothing about it. Of course, another concern would be oil from the turbo. I inspected the turbo as best I could - the vanes rotated freely, but ever since the rebuild the acceleration feels much reduced, although mpg economy is excellent. So I have a question, if the turbo were not to be working properly what would be the symptoms, and is there a simple check? I say simple because as the engine is running "OK" and returning excellent mpg I do not feel the need to spend significant money or effort. PS I cannot link the cambelt failure to the sludged cylinder head. The cambelt failed because its inner edge was wearing away on the flange of the crankshaft pulley - ie the belt was being pulled towards the engine. It failed when it had worn from its original approx 25mm to 16mm wide. This would imply one of the pulleys was misaligned but everything was mounted correctly with no play in any shaft or pulley. On fitting a new cambelt it did the same, so I have monitored the wear and found I need to replace the cambelt every 25,000 miles or so, when it gets to 20mm or so - I am now an expert!!! However, recently the wear rate has very much reduced - perhaps the crankshaft pulley flange has been polished to a mirror!! PPS Another associated issue was that I discovered one of the fuel injector's copper sealing washers had been leaking exhaust gasses. The area around the rocker cover and the injector bore was caked in rockhard carbon, and it took 2 days of patient work to extract the injector. Again, I cannot think of a link with the cambelt failure. If anyone can link these faults I would be very interested!!!

Oops. All working now. By the way, has anyone any knowledge or experience of the "EuroreparDoc" Catalogue accessible via the CitroenService when selecting "Multimarque Documentation" under the "Free Services" tab?

One of the spheres joints is well corroded around the joint but the joint is dry. I cleaned up the oil stain, secured a precautionary hoseclip to the narrow end of the boot and it passed the MOT. 100miles later and no sign of a leak. I will get around to wrapping the possible leak sources with cloth and lockwire to try and determine the leak. There appears no need to remove the boot yet. Regarding the MOT - 15years,162K miles and no advisories, with original exhaust, suspension and steering rubbers/boots etc. Cant be bad!

It appears the online Citroen.service.com (and its Peugeot counterpart) - giving free access to parts info - is no longer available. My account no longer works and I can find no way of registering afresh. I note the following website http://www.citroenpeugeot.com/en/content/citroen-service. It appears to invite Citroen/Peugeot owners to join, but this also does not appear to work. Anyone any news?

When I bought my second hand c5 2.2hdi in 2003 at 9000miles I too was rather surprised by how much the suspension "knocked" over bumps, rough roads, potholes etc, especially from the rear. The dealer looked at it and found nothing wrong. 16 years and 150,000 miles later the suspension is still going strong (with the odd weeping seal). However, this was a common concern as Citroen's solution was to add improved noise absorption material under the rear seat. Citroen's advice to dealers was : Level 1 - assure customer everything is OK. Level 2 - if customer is still concerned, carry out mod to add noise absorption under rear seat. In other words, the Hydractive3+ suspension is not as smooth over bumps as Citroen would wish us to believe,even from the earliest days of the C5. I learned from that experience that Citroen will always try to fob off the customer at first. Therefore, it pays to persist. For example, I complained of uneven wear on the rear tyres at 15000miles. Citroen initially accused me of "taking corners too quickly" - can you believe it? After I pressed them further (along the lines of "you cannot be serious"), they stated that a batch of rear sub-frames had been drilled misaligned. They replaced the subframe and gave me two new Michelins under warranty. 20,000miles later it proved to have had no discernible effect on the uneven tyre wear.

Thanks again Paul. I investigated the cost and availability of parts with my local Citroen dealer in Lincoln. They said the boots come in packs of two and would not split them, so I would have to buy two at a total cost of £19.64 inc vat. I have come across this in the past, some dealers split multi-packs some do not. As they are available elsewhere on the internet as single items I will not be buying one (or even two) from them. The total cost of the 3 sealing rings is approx £12.50. The cylinder complete is £130.12 inc vat.

I found this post on the French Car Forum here. On that C5 the photo shows that the boot had visibly split open, but was still only an MOT "advisory"!!

Thanks Paul. I had read the linked post. It seems to me that if the rubber boot itself is intact, and is vented by one of its two side pipes, it should be possible to seal the boot against minor weeping leaks. I have done the same very successfully with a front strut for many years using oil-resistant silicon sealant. This is on the basis that any leak is very minor and does not affect performance, nor is a precursor to a more serious failure. I will post what I find.

I understand rear suspension cylinders usually weep LPS fluid and "stain" the boot and surrounding components. Indeed, a forum reply in 2009 stated that the ram is designed to slightly leak fluid into the boot as a means of lubrication. . However, the stains on mine seem rather excessive now and may fail the next MOT. I have cleaned and degreased the area thoroughly and now await to see exactly from where the fluid is leaking. The boots are intact as are the two flexible pipes into the boots (fluid return and vent pipes). The clamp on the wide end of the boot appears secure. However, I note there is no clamp on the narrow end of the boot. I also wonder what part the cylinder seals have to play. The parts diag illustrates 3 rings seals: 5272-18 Cylinder O-Ring, -29 Sliding Seal, and -31 Weather seal. I am unclear as to where these 3 seals sit in the cylinder - are they clamped in place by the 5272-H3 Thrust Bush ? Is it likely they will need to be replaced. Regarding replacements, I note the boots are available on line for under £10 and the clamp is a standard double-wire type. I have not yet tried to remove the cylinder pins, but I understand they can be corroded in. Grateful for any advice, ta.

Ive had time to focus on m car of late so I thought I would address a log standing fault. The drivers heated seat has not worked, on any heat setting for many years - the passenger seat is OK. The fuse is OK and many years ago a Citroen dealer checked it and said the problem lies in the heating element and they could only replace the full leather seat cushions/covers complete with integral heating element at mega ££££s. So I have lived with it ever since. Has anyone had this problem?

I am coming into this a bit late but...... Citroen specifically advise not to depress the accelerator during engine start, but do say to depress the clutch to reduce engine turnover resistance. Regarding fuel. Starting when hot but not when cold may indicate fuel draining slowly from the supply pipework ie it drains away fully overnight but not after a few minutes/hours. As previously mentioned, the diesel filter prime is intended to drain off any water which may have separated out (diesel floats on water). When unscrewed, diesel (not air, nor water usually) should drain away - catch some in a jamjar, let it settle and check it for water/dirt etc. I suggest opening the drain valve before trying to start the engine after overnight. If copious diesel (not water) drains away then thats not the problem. Alternatively, unscrew the filter top and check that way. Of course, if the filter housing is draining away, surely it can only drain via the bleed valve at the bottom, or a cracked housing (which would also let air in)???! Are there any signs of diesel leaks? From another angle, in the past I have checked that the LP tank pump and HP pump are working by carefully slackening their output pipes when cranking the engine. Of course, the LP tank pump activates (it can be heard) on ignition to prime the LP pipework before even attempting to turn over the engine. The upshot of all this is that the LP and HP fuel system should be fully primed in a few seconds and should not require the extended turnover Tommcc is reporting (unless its priming with air or water!!). So perhaps the fault is elsewhere.

Paul h Thanks Paul, a very useful link. It would appear that my car's interface protocol is listed as "KWP FAST" as is many of the C5 variants up to 2009. Elsewhere on the net, it would appear "KWP FAST" is otherwise known as ISO14230-4 KWP protocol - very common. All the OBD2 software I have used to date tries to connect to the ECU using each of the many protocols (INCLUDING ISO14230-4) but all fail to do so. I tried 2 more today - EOBD Facile (the link you gave me) and Scanmaster ELM Demo. Both are free and permit you to check that their software works before buying a "full" or "pro" version. Unfortunately neither worked. Again it is clear that the bluetooth connectivity works OK, and the use of the COM3 port is correct. They just cannot connect to the ECU using any protocol. So, I will not pursue further. Is there any way of canvassing owners of other, more modern, C5s to see if such cheap ELM readers work with their cars? I wonder also whether there is any link with the issue that many (most?) cheap Lexia downloads dont work with early C5s. Has anyone found an ebay Lexia interface that does?

OOpS. That should be ELM 327 !! Perhaps the moderator can amend

Hi, I thought I would try out one of those cheap Chinese OBD2 adaptors on my 2001 C5 2.2HDI which displays info via Bluetooth to a tablet/phone app - worth a punt for £3. The "mini" adaptor fitted into the OBD socket and, with ignition on but engine off, my Samsung Android tablet connected with it by Bluetooth - so far so good. I used an app to identify the ELM327 version which it replied with "V1.5". Of course, V1.5 does not exist as all such adaptors are clones of the original ELM software but at least it proved that my tablet was communicating with the adaptor. However, I have tried 3 free ELM327/OBD2 android apps and none can connect to the OBD2 system on the car. The problem appears that none of the 8+ protocols (ISO, canbus etc) work with the car. Before I waste anymore time on this, has anyone found an app that works? I realise that the EU did not require european diesels to have Obd2 until 2003/4, so does my older C5 have a bespoke protocol? Any ideas? I note also that a search of all forums does not return any results for "ELM327".